Monday, 13 March 2017

If you ever want to be in three countries at once, then Basel is where you might want to go to . The city's right between the borders of Switzerland, Germany & France. The best way I'd personally describe the place as is that it is quintessentially European. On one side of the Rhine, you've got a very modern setting, complete with skyscrapers, whereas the other side of the river boasts of classical buildings and architecture. Here, I've ordered the photos sequentially as I walked from Kleinbasel, the urban part of the city, to the Old Town in Grossbasel. And yes, those are people swimming in the Rhine in the 1st picture; appararently it's quite a big thing to do there every summer.

One great thing about staying at a hotel in Basel was that they gave out
replacement tram tickets so that you didn't have to pay for tram
transport (not sure if this is still valid though), which was very handy
considering how very expensive the place is. A pint of beer costs 6
swiss francs, that too on the cheap side.

Last summer was all about Pokemon Go.

Some scenes upon entering Grossbasel.

Instead of walking down the bridge, you can also take a small boat to cross the river. The one we took had Nepali prayer flags which was pleasantly surprising as I always think that despite the immense economic and lifestyle differences in the two countries, both the Swiss and Nepali country landscapes are reminiscent of each other.

Sunday, 12 March 2017

Last May, way before Trump got elected as President, I got an amazing opportunity to visit America, for the first time ever. So, the first thing that popped into my mind was to take a week off to visit my cousins. First off, I was at Tennessee. T'was a good place with what Americans call as having a southern charm. I definitely enjoyed the peach tea and the portions of food there. One thing to emphasise about America is that the place is just like it is in the movies.
It was hot in Tennessee; 30°C hot. The last time I experienced such weather was during August in Croatia. During my time in Knoxville, I also heard a lot of stories about bears climbing down the Smoky Mountains for the summer. Sadly, I didn't encounter such a sight.

Landing at Washington D.C. was when I saw a roundabout for planes for the first time in my life.

Saika Di came to pick me up at the airport. She was planning on surprising me at the arrivals but we both got lost in opposite directions. I was trying to surprise her by heading towards the parking lot and Di was near baggage claim. So, our reunion was pretty hilarious, not everyone surrounding us thought so though. After a night of what seemed like a never-ending wine-binge and getting nostalgic with Di and the bros, we headed to the hottest points of D.C. the next day; yes, I'm talking about the museums, because education, and of course, to get a glimpse of George Washington's abs.

I probably gained a generous amount of weight during my stay in America. Here are a selection of items I drooled over and very much enjoyed as well.

D.C. was very... bureaucratic. It was pretty fun walking around Georgetown and the monuments were quite a sight; American size.

The White House was very clean-looking.

Here's a close-up of the Washington Monument. Yes, we did the whole Captain America jogging thing. It was actually pretty fun cycling around there too.

A few moving snippets of the area;

Now that we'd fueled all that knowledge on American history, Saika di thought we deserved a bit of party-time. So yeah, she booked, for the two of us, tickets to Orlando baby! Florida was just as you'd imagine! Freaking palm trees and piña coladas everywhere!

We went to Universal Studios, Islands of Adventure. It was an absolute blast. They had rides + set replicas from Marvel to Sinbad to Jurrasic Park to Kong, although Kong island wasn't open yet when we went there, but anywho, Pirates of the Carribean and best of all, Harry friggin' Potter!!!

The rides that I personally found best were Harry Potter, obviously (btw you can actually shop around Hogsmead, how cool is that?!), and Jurrasic Park.

We had a slightly funny experience on our way back to D.C. Whilst waiting for our gate to open, Saika di and I decided to go have a drink at a bar. One drink went down to two and so on, soon when we were checking in and our bags were being scanned, we got stopped and got a good earful for not taking out liquids then actually got followed around by security when we were browsing around shops. Here's a picture of the culprit.

Either way America is a slightly crazy yet great place. I would love to go visit more, because the place is so huge, but concerning the circulation of real vs. fake news there, I might take my time planning my next visit there. Lastly, I want to share some more photos of food. A big thank you to my beautiful sistar and bros for showing me around your hood and for feeding me. Did I mention how awesome the food is there?